Method and means of gyroscopic control.



E. F. CHANDLER.

METHOD AND-MEANS 0F GYROSCOPIC CONTROL.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 4 1915.

1,295,003. Patented Feb. 18, 1919.

l1 TTOR/VEY haemo OFFICE.

nnw r. LEE, or nnooxnrn, NEW onx, AssIeNon; r CHANDLER nn'vnnorMEET-CORPORATION, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

METHOD AND MEANS OF GYEOSGOPIG CONTROL. 7

J To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD F.

.citizen of the United States, residing in System of an pelled'dirigible devices; The invention. r- Y thermore relates to improvements1n gyro- Brooklyn, county of- Kings, and State of New York, haveinventednew and useful Improvements in Methods and Means of 'Gyroscopic Control,of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description,reference being had to the accompanying drawt 1 which when spmning athigh speed, is

mgs, forming a part of this specification.

' This invention relates to an lmproved oscopic control for selfroscopesand particularly gyrostats mounted in gimbalrings in which the fly wheel1s kfree to be revolved and also in which, due

to the gimbal rings, the fly wheel may be .revolved'around the verticaland horizontal One of the objects of the invention is to I provideimprovements in those systems of existing systems of gyroscopic controlin which the gyroscopeis adapted to control the operatlon of certalnauxiliary apparatus in such a manner that as the relation changesbetweenit and the axis of the dirigible' device or other apparatus upon whichit, is carried, some 'function will result due to the said change v ofrelation between the axis of the gyrostat and the axis of the membercarrying. the.

same; such improvements being-of such a nature that the usual errors metwith m osco ic control are overcome, the operatlon of t e systemsimplified, andimproved.

' A further, object is-to provide a system of gyroscopic control inwhich the gyrostat beingfree to revolve about its vertical andhorizontal axis atall times, an operative relation may be established-atany time for the purpose of gyroscopic-control, irrespective of thevpositionof the sad gyrostat about its vertical center at the time.Heretofore it has been the practice to lockthe frame in a fixed relationto the axis oi the d1r1g1blegyroscope fly wheel carrying device thesteering of] .whifclris to be con trolled. Y I

In my-sy stem of gyroscopic bon'tr'ol, the

fly wheel carrying. members are free at all times and thOI'GfOI'Q'WhllOthe said gyroscope is receiving its initiatspin it is free to seek aposition closely approximating its natural settling position w1threspect to theaxis of the earth. Other objects and advantagesSpecification of Letters Patent. Patented Feb, 18 1919 Application filedNovember 4, 1915; Serial No. 59,535.

will be apparent to those versed these matters after having read thefollowing specification and after having referred to thedrawlngs-herewith.

-1S well known gyroscopes and. gyrostats are employedfor automaticallystabiliz'ing and steering moving or movable bodies with'jrespect to agiven axis or di-.

rection. The gyro comprisesan element adapted to assume a position inspace, orjto maintain a osition in s ace which has been impressed tereon. en the position is assumed by the'spinning element, its axis of"rotation will stand parallel with the axis of the earth when on theother hand a position is impressed upon the said element, which is notparallel with the axis of the earth it persists in this position onlyagainst its natural .tendency to assume its relation with respect to theearth, and it is this infiuence on gyroscopic apparatus as heretofore.employed that I overcome by means of the present invention wherein thespinning-element of my apparatus is stabilized gyroscope fly wheelas forinstance by means of a spring, compressed air or electricity, but in thepreferred embodiment of my invention I not only revolve my roscopeprequently maintain the rotation of the same by the continuedapplication of electrical energy.. 'For a better understanding of thedetails of how electricity maybe applied to the spinning of a gyroscope,I refer to my Patent #1,127,403 on a gyroscopically controlled torpedodated Feb. 9, 1915, in which is disclosed and described a system ofelectrical operation well adapted for spinning a gyroscope fly wheel.

To further assist in a clearer understanding of my present invention, Irefer to the drawings herewith in which, I

"Figure ,1 is a conventional siderview of my gyroscope; Fig. 2 is aconventional plan View, part of which has been broken away; Fig. 3 is adetail of a certain modification; Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic detail ofanother modification.

Fig. 5 illustrates diagrammatically a modification of my invention,

liminaril'y by means of electric1ty,.but subse- In Fig. 1, 1 is the flywheel having a spin dle 2 and 2 after the'usu-al manner of gyroscopicfly wheel construction. 3 is a gimbal ring or frame in which the flywheel is so supported as to be capable of being freely revolved. Member'3 is supported, by means of suitable antifriction pivots 4, to the maincarrying ring 5, 5 in turn being pivoted at 6 and 6' in a suitablestandard or frame 7 It will be seen from this description that so far mygyroscope closely resembles the usual form commonly employed for suchpurposes in which frame 7 is secured within the body of the device orvessel and adapted in the preferred form to stand vertical,substantially as illustrated. As is well known, in order to takeadvantage of the gyroscopic action, it is necessary that some means beprovided whereby as the relation between the axis of the gyroscope andthe axis of the device upon which the gyroscope is carried changes, asuitable member will be actuated, said member being either the steeringrudder of the dirigible device or an indlcator, or both according to thepurpose for which the gyroscope is being employed. In its simlest form,the gyroscope of a torpedo steermg gear for instance, is so constructedan employed that the turning of the gyroscope about its vertical axis orany turning of the dirigible device about the Vertical axis of thegyroscope will transmit an impulse either by means of fluid ressure orelectricity to the rudder actuating motor for the purpose of steeringthe said torpedo or other device in a direction corresponding to orbearing a fixed relation to the position maintained by the gyroscope. Inthe well known forms of gyroscopes such as are used commonlyintorpedoes, as above noted the fly wheel carrying members are securelylocked until the unlocking impulse is initiated and at that instantthegyroscopic device is released leaving the fly wheel free to exerciseits'peculiar function. Now, I have found that the steering of adirigible device can begreatly improved by not locking the gyroscope ina fixed relation but rather allowing same complete freedom during thespin-' ning eriod thereby permitting same to seek to rest in its truesettling position with respect to the earth and by again referring to,Fig. 1, it will be seen that I accomplish this end by not establishingcooperation between the gyroscope and the steering gear until after thegyroscope has been spun up to proper speed and as will be seen this'maybe accomplished by providing means of any suitable nature whereby at theproper instant cotiperation may be established between the gyroscope andthe steering gear. schematically I illustrate a clutch member 8 integralwith the vertical fly wheel supporting frame 5. The other clutch member9 as shown is maintained out of engagement with 8 by means of latchesorhooks 10 and 10 which are fulcrumed to frame 7 at 11 and 11'. Hook 10 isrovided with an integral extension 12 to w ich is connected an actuatingbar 13. 14 is a suitable link member so connecting members 10 and 10that they are worked together, or in other words function simultaneouslyso as to open said hook members for the purpose of instantly releasing 9when member 13 is moved toward the left. Assuming that the gyroscope flywheel 1 is spinning at its maximum velocity and that it is desired tobring member 9 into operative relation with 8, it will be seen that itis merely necessary to move bar 13 to the left thereby releasing member9 and permitting the same to fall upon member 8. It will be noted that 8is indicated as tapered and that 9 is provided with an internal taperadapted to fit or cooperate with 8. when brought into association witheach other. Secured to the front of the frame 7 is a member 15 which ispreferably of insulating material. adapted to engage with the surface ofmember 9 as is more clearly shown in Fig. 2. U pen the edge of member 9is a suitable contact strip 17 against which contact member 16 is adated to rest for the purpose of making' and reaking an electric circuit.

As previously set forth any suitable method adapted for spinning thegyroscope fly wheel may be employed. I prefer however toemployelectrical energy, and in Fig. 1, 56 represents a source of electricalenergy such as a battery or generator. Energy is conducted to thegyroscope through suitable conductors H, I. In the circuit a switch 57may be inserted when necessary or desirable, which may be of anysuitable pattern. In the schematic representation current is indicatedas being conveyed to the motor-gyroscope through the gimbal pivots. Itwill be understood however, that I do not wish to limit myself to suchstructural details as electrical gyroscopes, their construction andoperations are well known in the art.

It is merely necessary in carrying-out my invention that. the gyroscopebe of a motor type, and that energy can be conveyed to the sameirrespective of its position about its vertical axis..

It will be understood that any suitable method of communicating angularmotion from the gyroscope to the steering or indicating means may beemployed, but for convenience and for clearness I indicate anelectromagnetic device 18 connected by .means of lead A with contactmember 16 and by means of B electrical communication is establishedbetween 17 and the source of electrical energy 19, the circuit beingcom- At 16 is a suitable contact member pleted by lead C. 20 is anarmature fulcrumed at 21 and 22 may be considered as a rudder orindicator. By this arrangement it will be 'seen that if ring 9 iscarried in a clockwise direction around the vertical axis of thegyroscope, electrical circuit will be broken between 17 and 16, theelectromagnetic device 18 will be deenergized and owing to the action ofspring 23, armature 20 will be pulled away from 18 and 22 will.

consequently swing to the right. The gyroscopic device as abovedescribed is well adapted for use in a torpedo in which case bar 13would be actuated by the starting latch which device is common to alltorpe- 7 does and is not described here in detail, it being deemedsuflicient to mention that the starting latch which is operated. as thetorpedo is leavin the tube, is adapted to be so connected wit bar 13that the tripping of the said latch will cause the lever 12 to move tothe left thus releasing member 9. It must be understood, however, that Iin no way limit myself to connect directly with the starting latch, itbeing within the scope of the invention to release the clutch holdingmember or otherwise set up gyroscopic control at any time and in anysuitable manner calculated'to give the best results and I may thereforewish to operate my gyroscope clutch or other device before the startinglatch is operated, etc. Putting the gyroscope into operative relationwith some other member ofthe steering or indicating system, permits ofwide modification and variation and as I do not wish to limit myself toany specific construction or means for accomplishing this end, Iillustrate in Fig. 3 a certain modification in which 5 iseither theupper or the lower part of the verticalgyroscope carrying ring most ofwhich has been broken away. 9 is a contact carrying member normally outof'engagement with member 5. 24 represents an electromagnet adapted whenenergized to engage member 9'. 6 is one of the anti-friction pivotsabout which member 5 and 24, they being integral, v are adapted torotate in the vertlcal plane.

. upon 7', it being noted that'there is no operative relation between.5and '9, said member 5 being free to' revolve within the member 9'.Carried by 9' is a contact member or brush 25. 26 represents a contactplate carried upon a suitable insulating member 27. 28 is a switch lerer. 29 is a suitable source of electrical energy. D and E are leads orwires by means of which when switch 28 is caused to contact with 28' anelectrical circuit will be completed, thus energizing magnet 24. Whenthe magnet 24 is energized member 9' will be engaged, and thus engagedwill be carried by member 5. Rotation" of 5 about the vertical thencause contact member 25 to moveover contact plate 26 and by thisarrangement a suitable circuit adaptedto operate a, steering orindicating device may be brought into op- V eration. From thisdescription it will be seen that contact member 25 need not necessarilybe employed electrically, but might'be used as a lever or othermechanism for communicating motion to the valve of a -'servo motor,etc., it being my purpose chiefly to show that it is possible to obtainmotion as a result of the gyroscopic' action, it being well known that Imay employ this motion in any manner best suited for the part cularpiiirfiose or use to which my system is app e V In Fig. 4, 30 is a diskadapted to be carried by the vertical ring 5 and 6 is the pivot orhearing. The object of this diagram is to illustrate another means totransmit motion fromthe gyroscope to any other appropriate mechanism.Disk 30 which may be of any suitable thickness and of any appropriatematerial is adapted to be engaged upon its periphery by member 31 whichmemberis fulcrumed to hell crank 32 at 33. A suitablespring 34 tends tomove member 31 over against the periphery of 30 and a suitable latchmember 35 maintains 31 out of engagement with the said disk. By means ofconnecting rod 36 bell crank '32 is adapted tovcontrol the valve of aservo motor 37. By

cases in which the gyroscope .does not turn througha very great angletoone side or the other and in other words in which the turning moment iscomparatively small.

In Fig. 6, however, I show a modification of the scheme diagrammaticallyillustrated in Fig. 4 in which 30 is a disk corresponding with the onejust previously described and 6 is the vertical pivot or'bea disk 38isadapted to engagewith disk30 very Inthiscasemuch after the order of a.pair of gears. Su I perimposed upon disk 38 is another disk 39 havingone tooth 40, this said tooth being in engagement with member 41, member41 in turn being pivoted at 42 to an-extension of the swinging bracket43, this said bracket being fulcrumed in any appropriate manner at 44.The object of this modification is to provide for a greater f moment ofthe gyroscope in which case disk 38 may be com- .pletely revolved as aresult of its operative engagement with 30. Disk 39 being integral with38 or secured thereto acts as a onetooth gear upon member 41 swingingsame to the right or to the left about the pivot 42,

as will be well understood by those versed in matters of this nature.The extension 45 of member 41 may be caused to perform any desiredfunction such as the making and breaking of circuits, or the operatingof the valve of a servo motor, or merely as an indicator and in any ofthese cases as the gyroscope turns to one side or the other of thatposition in which it was standing at the time that engagement was madebetween disks 30 and 38 member 41 will be rocked and if constructedsubstantially in accordance with the drawing herewith it will remainlocked to one side or the other if the turning moment exceeds a certainamount. Devices represented by Fig. 4 and Fig. 6 may be con structed ina great many different ways and it will be understood that coiiperationbetween the friction surfaces may be improved by cutting suitable teethon members 38 and 31 or30'and 38 or engagement may be had merely betweenground surfaces or by the application of suitable frictional materialall of which will be well understood by those versed in mechanics.Sometimes it is desired to so construct a gyroscope that when the sameis finally put into operation for the purpose of fire control the pathof the weapon or other device will lay in a pre-. determined directiondifiering somewhat from that direction in which the dirigible device ispointing at the time that the gyroscope is put into operation. In otherwords it is sometimes necessary or desirable to alter the neutralposition of the gyroscope with respect to the horizontal axis of thediri -ble device carrying the said gyroscope. his condition is mostcommonly met with in torpedo practice and is known as angle firing andwith a view of showing that my device is adaptable for this purpose aswell as many others in which an adjustment of this kind will bedesirable, I have shown in Fig. 5 member 9 carrying a contact brush 25,this member remaining stationary with respect to the axis of the torpedountil engaged by the gyroscope of which 8 is a part. 46 and 46 arecontact plates supported by an insulating medium 47 these said contactplates are suitably mounted upon member 48 having teeth 49. Inengagement with the teeth is a suitable adjusting worm 50 which whenrevolved is adapted to revolve member 48 around the vertical center ofthe gyroscope. 51 and 51 represent electromagnets adapted to control aswinging armature 52 which is fulcrumed at 53, the said armature beingshown as carrying a pointer which might also be considered as the rudder54. 55 is a source of electrical energy. Member 9 is connected by lead Fwith the source of current 55 and then with the magnets by F,

leads G and G connecting the said magnets substantially as shown withthe contact plates 46 and 46. The operation of this arrangement is asfollows: Assuming the apparatus is applied to a torpedo and that it isnot desired that the torpedo follow the direction in which it ispointing when launched but that it is to turn to one side or to theother through a definite angle and then proceed in a straight line. Asshown in the drawing, neutral point 47 has by means of the adjustingworm 50 been moved away from the contact brush 25 which is standing in afixed relation to the axis of the torpedo. Obviously either part 25 or47 may be made adjustable. Previous to the launching of the torpedo thegyroscope will be spinning at high speed and upon the desired instantmember-9 will be brought into'engagement with 8, 8 being the roscope ora part thereof. Contact mem r 25 completes circuit through 46 in whichis located magnet 51 with the result that the rudder of the torpedo orother vessel is held over to one side, this will cause the torpedo toturn about and to continue to turn until contact member 25 passes theinsulated point 47. As the circuit will be broken when member 25 crosses47, the rudder will come to a midship position and as long as thetorpedo or other vessel steers in a straight line and the contact member25 remains upon 47, no action will occur at the rudder, but as soon asthe torpedo deviates to one side or'the other and as a consequencecontact member 25 passes ofl' of the insulated part 47 and makes contactwith 46 or 46, the rudder will function accordingly for the purpose ofsteering the torpedo back upon its course. There are a great manypossible modifications and schemes in the steerin of torpedoes and Ihave described herewit a conventional case for the sake of clearness. Itwill be understood, however, that with a device such as is shown, member25 would not in reality remain stationaryon the insulated part 47 butwould probabl vibrate back and forth due to mechanical d efects in thetorpedo with the result that the weapon would steer a somewhat sinuouscourse, it being possible, however, by providing means (such asoppositely opposed springs, not shown) for normally holding the rudderin amidships position thereby somewhat flatten the otherwisefullysinuous course of the weapon.

It will be seen that a preferred embodiment of the herein describedinvention results in a. Very much simplified form of gyroscope Wellsuited for many purposes and as it is not necessary to reset the gimbalrings as is the case particularly in torpedo gyroscopes, certainstructural advantages will be apparent to those versed in this art. Toobtain the same degree of accuracy, considerably less skill is requiredin the manufacture of gyroscopes built in accordance with thisinvention, which considered in the light of its fewer parts constitutes,another important advance over the present known types of gyroscopes.Having thus described some of the illustrative embodiments of myinvention, I a desire it to be understood that although specific termsare employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense and notfor the purpose'of limitation, the

scope of the above being set forth in' the appended claims. Iclaim: v 1.The method of controlling the steering of a dirigible device, whichconsists in spin-.

ning a gyroscope while free to seek its own settling position, and thencausing it to exercise its influence upon the steering means.

2. The method of gyroscopic' control, of a dirigible device whichconsists in spinnng the gyroscope while free to rotate about itsvertical axis and subsequently bringing the gyroscope into operativeengagement with the steeringmeans.

3. The method of gyroscopic control, which consists in spinning agyroscope while operatively free from the controlling means,

so as to allow the free orientation of the gyroscope in relation to theaxis of the earth, and subsequently establishing operative relationbetween said gyroscope and said con trolling means when the gyroscopicaxis. has been independentl estabhshed.

4:. The metho of gyroscopic control, which consists in spinning agyroscope While disconnected from the controlling means,

- and free to seek its own settling position,

. nin

and in establishing operative relation between said gyroscope and thecontrolling means only at the moment when it is desired to have thegoverning action of the gyroscope upon the steering means.

5. The method of controlling the steering of a dirigible device, whichconsists in spina gyroscope while free to seek its own sett ingposition, and then causing it to exercise 1ts influence upon anindicating device steering means, a gyroscope at all times to rotatearound its vertical am's, and adapted to be operatively connected to ordiscon nected from said' controlling means.

S. The method of stabilizing a dirigible body, which consists inspinning a gyroscope while free to rotate with respect to agiven axis,and then placing the gyroscope 1n control of said body.

9. The method of stabilizing a dirigible body, which consists in initially operating a stabilizing element while same is free to rotate inspace with respect to a given axis and then placing the body undercontrol of said element.

10. The method of gyroscopic control which consists in spinning agyroscope while free to establish substantially a. north and southaxial-position, and'then causing the gyroscope to exercise its influencebody to be stabilized.

11; The method of gyroscopic mntrol, which consists in spinning anelement freely suspended in space so as to establish its independentgyroscopic axis, and then establishing operative relation between saidelement and a member to be controlled thereby.

12. The method of stabilizing a body with respect to a given axis, whichconsists in establishing in an element a relatively independent axis inspace and then establishing operative relation between the body and theelement with respect to their axes.

13. In connection with a dirigible device having steering means, agyroscope free to rotate upon its verticalaxis, means for spinning thesame while free, and means operable to establish operative relationbetween the same and the said steering means.

upon the 14. Means ofgyroseopic control of steering indicating means,comprising a gyroscope, means for spinning the same whlle "free torotate about its vertical axis, and

means for establis operative relation between the gyroscope .and theindicating means.-

15. In combination with a an indicator for showing the status of thesame with respect to a given axis, means forspinning the gyroscope whilefree to rotate in a substantially horizontal plane and means for placingthe gyroscope in control of the said indicator.

16. The method of compensating for the action of the earths rotation ona gyroscoplcally steered device, which in establisin the axis ofrotation of a p10 para lel with the axis of the earth and then placingthe gyroscope in control of said device.

17. In a means for indicating the course of a dirigible device withrespect to a given axis, a gyroscope, means for spinning same while freeto rotate with respect to said axis, In testimony whereof I have signedthis and means to place the gyroscope in control specification in thepresence of two swbscribw of theIindicatmg means;1 ing Witnesses, this2nd day of October 1915. 18. n a gyrosco ic evice a rosco e free at alltimes to i-otavte about i vertic l CHANDLER axis, a member adapted to becontrolled by Witnesses:

the gyroscope and means for placing said C. E. RUssELL,

member under control of the gyroscope. H. L. SLoAN.

